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| - I rented a place under RPM in the Discovery at Daybreak complex. First and foremost I'll admit that I can be too trusting when it comes to dealing with management companies, and that I am learning hard lessons here in Arizona on what to document, & what not to tolerate.
We stayed at the placed for one year only, mainly due to the fact that there were issues with German roaches, moths, crickets, and beetles, immediately noticed after we moved in (the place is located near a canal). I was able to get this under control, (the German roaches at least) but the damage to my psyche had already been done, and my mind was made up to move when my lease ended. Also, there were two levels to the apartment, and the second floor was extremely hot during the summer months, even when the owner made a failed attempt of hiring an aloof contractor who did a half-assed job of installing fans in the upstairs vents to increase air circulation (that experience is a whole other story). This resulted in higher energy bills.
I did my due diligence and submitted pictures along with my move-in checklist; the property was not move-in ready and nothing had been professionally cleaned, including under the appliances, and the carpet. Fast forward one year to move out, and I have hired professional cleaners who did a full house cleaning, including the carpet. I pretty much left the place in better shape than it was when I fist moved in. I did the walk through with my property manager, yet it did not matter because afterwards, the owner came in and gave his final say on issues he found during HIS inspection. I was charged back a deep cleaning fee that equaled nearly half of my refundable deposit (oh, please do keep in mind that not all of your security deposit is fully refundable. To be fair, they do disclose this, but only when you're going over the lease agreement and probably don't have enough time to find something else) based off of what he observed. My question is why wasn't he present at the final walk-through? Clearly, the management company's presence holds no weight if the owner has the final say anyway. What purpose do they serve?
RENTERS- do your homework. Hold these companies at the same level of accountability that they expect from you. After dealing with RPM, there are three things that you must be aware of, in my opinion at least:
1. Your security deposit is not fully-refundable. This will make a difference once it is time to move out because...
2. They will nitpick on every detail during final inspection, even if the place is not clean upon move in, as was my situation. In retrospect, I should have demanded that the place be cleaned profession, but I admittedly did not want to come off as too demanding or difficult. Super silly on my part since I'm the one helping the owner or by paying rent with my hard-earned money.
3. You have to pay a lease renewal fee. The fee is discounted if you renew early. Not something that I had to worry about since I did not renew.
On a positive note, I gave this place more than one star because they were very responsive when I submitted maintenance requests. Also, I can own up to one issue that the owner noticed during HIS solo inspection; mainly some roach bait that I had to lay around the house to prevent an infestation. It worked, and you're welcome. I do not appreciate the fact that he wasn't present when I did the final walk through, or that they were picky about the cleanliness of the place when clearly it wasn't cleaned to that same expectation when I moved in. Also, the property manager kept repeating that she "had to ask the owner" every time she found a supposed issue. Well, then he (the owner) should have been there. Before I turned over my keys and walked out of the door, I should have known what it was that I'd be charged-back for. Instead it was all left up in the air, rendering the property manager's presence pointless. I show up for a walk-through, yet not all of the parties who make the determining factor on my money being refunded are present.
I'm all about transparency, and I respect companies that are. I do not feel as if I received this courtesy from this management company. Good luck with these guys.
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